The bodies of a Dutch international volleyball player and her boyfriend appear
to have been found in a shallow grave near the Spanish resort of Murcia.

Ingrid Visser, 35, and her partner Lodewijk Severein, 57, disappeared on May 13 shortly after checking into the Churra de Murcia hotel.

Joaquin Bascunana, interior ministry spokesman for Murcia, said that "all signs indicated" the bodies found in a lemon grove on Sunday were those of Miss Visser and Mr Severein. He said forensic tests were continuing.

Police arrested a 36-year-old Spaniard on Saturday in the eastern coast city of Valencia, about 250 mile) north of Murcia. A ministry statement Monday said two Romanians aged 47 and 60 were later arrested, also in Valencia.

Spanish news agency EFE said that Miss Visser, who was part of the Netherlands's gold medal-winning team at the European Championship in 1995, had arrived in Alicante airport with Mr Severein from Amsterdam.

The disappearance of the popular sportswoman sparked intense interest in her homeland, while volunteers inSpain plastered the streets of Murcia with posters seeking information.

Roberto van Hoeven, a former neighbour of divorcee Mr Severein and his ex wife who now lives nearby, said the couple had travelled to Spain for fertility treatment.

"They have no idea where they could be, and the police don't know where to look," he said last week. "The only thing we know is that they had an appointment with the doctor last Tuesday and did not turn up."

Their rental car was found nine days after they were last seen, left on a street in the southeastern Spanish city.

The couple's families said police had informed them of the find and although identification was still in progress they were shocked by the news.